


Trip To Castle Town

by PeachSSodaPop



Series: Peach's Loz Fics [12]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cause I Said So, Gen, Link (Legend of Zelda) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Link lives at Lon Lon Ranch, Post-Majora's Mask
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29097129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachSSodaPop/pseuds/PeachSSodaPop
Summary: The people he's helped may have forgotten what's happened but Link still remembers it all
Relationships: Link & Malon
Series: Peach's Loz Fics [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1404235
Kudos: 10





	Trip To Castle Town

He sits beside her in the wagon full of milk. He tries to ignore that the last time he was in a wagon was in Termina fighting off thieves, that it wasn‘t long after he had worked with Romani to fight off whatever creatures had come to the ranch. He especially tries to ignore that the cycle before he had failed, he tries to forget her expression, her words, the hours she was missing.

He‘s not there anymore he has to remind himself, Cremia isn‘t sitting next to him, it‘s Malon. Malon who has been on and off telling embarrassing stories about her father. Malon who had been raising Epona before handing her over to him. Malon who doesn‘t forget him every three days and remembers everything since he was sent back. Malon who‘s not even driving the wagon because she‘s too young. 

Talon is the one with reigns in hand, there‘s no one after them. The wagon is full of lively chatter as Malon tells her stories and Talon adds on. The wagon is warm, but he still feels so cold.

They reach the gate to Castle town and head in, they go past the people enjoying their day in the streets. The wagon stops at the dirt path leading to the castle and Talon shoos them away to go have fun.

"Have you ever been there?“ She asks.

"Where?“ He asks back.

"To the Temple of Time. You seem to know every inch of Hyrule,“ She answers.

He looks over at the temple and he feels his blood run cold. He has, he doesn‘t want to admit it, but he has. He nods anyway though unable to bring himself to lie to her and it feels a little less bad seeing her smile.

"Can you show me it?“ She asks.

"Of course,“ He finds himself saying, but as they walk towards it he feels himself begin to shake. When they walk in he expects to see the door open, but it‘s closed just as it had been since he had left the sword there, since he had last seen Navi. 

"It‘s kind of boring in here,“ Malon says glancing around the empty room, "You‘ve been here, anything really worth visiting this for?“

He pauses, "Behind the door is the sword that seals the darkness,“

"Ooo, have you seen it?“

He nods and feels himself shake a bit harder but Malon doesn‘t notice.

"Wow how do we get behind the door?“

"Need the three spiritual stones,“ He replies, "they‘re across Hyrule though,“

"Hmm I guess we‘ll just have to go on an adventure and get them all,“ She says excitedly. Link feels his heart begin pounding though and suddenly the room is suffocating. 

He shakes his head and Malon finally seems to notice his anxiety.

"Are you ok? Um… let‘s leave we can sit out in front instead,“ She grabs his hand and leads him out. 

When they had walked in the sun had been shining, but while they had been inside darkness had swept across the town and Link feels his stomach turn. His legs give out beneath him and he swears he can hear the sounds of redeads just around the corner.

"Link!“ He hears Malon cry but he can‘t bring himself to respond. His throat feels tight and the air thin. 

"Link what‘s happening?“ She asks frantically.

"Danger,“ He chokes out. He catches a glance of her face and sees tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Danger where?“ He tries to reply but nothing comes out. She pulls him into a tight hug and he buries his face against her. 

Eventually his breathing calms down and he pulls away. The sky isn‘t dark, just partly cloudy, there‘s no redead noises, just the chatter coming from town. 

"I‘m sorry,“ He mumbles.

"I‘m glad you‘re ok,“ she says, "what was that?“

"Nothing,“ he lies.

"That was scary,“ She says, her voice is quiet. It shakes him to his core, Malon is hardly ever quiet.

"I‘m sorry,“ He says again.

They don‘t leave the area and Link feels the guilt blossom and begin choking him from within. Malon doesn‘t get to go to Castle Town often and he had ruined today. Talon finds them when he‘s done, there‘s a smile on his face until he gets a better look at them. They‘re quiet, clinging to each other and he‘s sure he doesn‘t look too good.

"Bad day?“ Talon asks and Link just nods his head. Bad is an understatement, one of the worst he‘s had since he’s come to stay at the ranch. He aches to be like Malon again but he‘s been shattered like glass. There‘s no returning from that, he remembers when he dropped a mug and he tried to fix it. Talon had thrown it out when he discovered the falling apart forced together pieces. He‘s just waiting now.

The ride back to the ranch is quiet, the coldness that Link had felt earlier had spread. He had taken all their warmth and remained so cold. Malon is asleep against him and Talon is behind the reigns again, and Link waits. It will come, and if it doesn‘t he has two feet. He doesn‘t want to break them too, for them to end up like the mug, like him.


End file.
